A Rose By Any Other Name
by MildredHelper
Summary: Rose wants to know about her mother, and her Aunt Rhoda has to muster up the courage to tell the little girl about the ultimate sacrifice Mary made for her.
1. Prologue

**A/N: I've taken a few liberties: this is set six years after the fifth season so anything that happened in the last two seasons has kind of been disregarded. **

_Prologue: January, 1981_

"Aunt Rhoda?"

"Yeah, kid?" Rhoda looked over at her six year old niece. To be fair, she wasn't really her niece. Rhoda was the girl's legal guardian and had been for her entire life.

"Tell me about my momma."

The rough edged New Yorker froze. There were some things she just couldn't talk about, although she knew the poor girl had a right to know about her mother; she didn't want to be the one to tell her. Still, one look at Rose's face, so very much like Mary's made her sit down.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Rose insisted. "Why isn't she here?" There was a bit of pout in her tone, and Rhoda knew the girl well enough to note that this meant tears were coming if she wasn't satisfied soon.

The older woman sighed heavily. "I told you, baby. Your momma died after you were born."

"I know, but tell me about her," Rose demanded as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Your momma was the best woman I've ever known. She was kind and funny, and...she was my hero." Tears were starting to well up in her eyes, and she knew that she wasn't ready to have this talk, some day when Rose was older maybe but not now. No first grader should have to carry around such a weight if she wasn't even likely to understand.

"Did she love me, Aunt Rho?"

"Oh kid," Rhoda breathed. "She loved you more than anyone and anything. Now, I think it's time for bed."

She mentally pleaded with the little girl to let them drop the subject, and eventually Rose relented.

"Okay, tuck me in."

Rhoda nodded and followed the little dear to her bedroom and pulled the covers up around her.

"I love you, doll face."

"I love you too," Rose yawned before turning over which gave Rhoda her cue to leave.

Clearly, she thought about Mary all the time, but she wasn't looking forward to the day when Rose wouldn't relent until she had told her everything. Her mind started to head back seven years prior, and she realized that it wasn't good for her to be alone so she called up Georgette.

"I'll be right over," her friend said in her soft voice before they both hang up the phone.

Rhoda waited anxiously, knowing that they were going to be spilling their guts and recalling the death of their friend. Naturally, she knew that cheesecake was going to be a necessity to get them through this, so she reached into the fridge and pulled one out.

Georgette arrived about fifteen minutes later, and Rhoda helped her friend with her coat. They both embraced for probably longer than was needed, and then they sat down, and Rhoda handed her friend a slice of cheesecake.

They both ate their cake in silence for awhile, and when they were done, the brunette cleared her throat, and indicated her friend's rounded abdomen.

"Are you nervous?"

"After what happened to her? Of course I'm nervous, but I just keep telling myself that everything will go according to plan."

"But..."

"Please Rhoda, I'd rather we didn't talk about me."

"Right, I'm sorry, kid. When Rose asked me about her- I froze. Help me remember so I'm not afraid," her friend's pleading tone was not something that Georgette was accustomed to, and she nodded.

"Of course, let's start where it all began..."

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	2. Enter the Love Interest

_December 1974_

"Oh Rhoda, he's perfect. He's absolutely, positively perfect," Mary gushed about her latest beau, Tom Darling.

"You kids hit second base yet?" Rhoda asked with a hint of disdain as she reached up and took her curlers out. She was always a little skeptical of Mary's boyfriends, mainly because she cared about her so much and to see her best friend hurting was one thing she couldn't bear.

"Oh Rhoda," Mary laughed. "You don't have to be so bitter."

"Are you kidding me? My best friend has been on two dates with a guy and now you're practically walking down the aisle. Pardon me if I'm a little bit skeptical."

"I'm sorry, Rho. I know that this is really sudden, but I do think that he's the one," Mary couldn't keep the twinkle out of her eyes.

It's not that Rhoda didn't trust her friend's judgement, but Mary had been serious before, and then there was always some major flaw with the guy.

"Well, if you're happy, then I'm happy. When do I get to meet this Prince Charming?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh uh soon," Mary insisted. "Now I have to run or I'll be late," she threw a bag over her shoulder and left in a hurry.

What kind of a guy didn't pick a girl like Mary up at her apartment? Rhoda decided that she was just being silly because she would never admit that she was really incredibly jealous.

Later that night, after Rhoda came back from her bummer of a date, having kicked her heels off, terribly dejected, she received a phone call from Mary asking her if she wanted to meet Tom. Of course she did and invited them over for coffee at her place. She secretly hoped that the guy was as much of a jerk as she thought he was because she really wanted to lay into someone after the crummy evening she had.

A knock on the door prompted her to say, "come on in, kids!"

"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Thomas Darling," a tall muscular looking man said as he extended his hand out for Rhoda's.

"Well, I see what Mare sees in you," she said, eyes wide, clearly not about to go out of her way to make this man feel welcome.

"Oh, Rhoda's just a big kidder," Mary shot her friend a look.

"No, she has a point. I don't know what you could possibly see because you're far too good for me."

Rhoda liked this confession and decided to give this man a chance.

"Would you care for some cheesecake?" She asked, her voice much warmer than before.

Tom looked over at Mary for a moment, no doubt taking in her encouraging, slightly pleading expression. She knew that a sure way Rhoda would warm up to a person was if she saw that they had a hearty appetite.

"Yeah, we'll stay for dessert, why not?"

Rhoda laughed when her friend let out a sigh of relief. "Mare, you're way too high strung. Help me with the cake?" She asked, motioning to the corner of her small apartment. They turned their back to Mary's date and began to whisper.

"He seems like a real keeper. Now try to relax, alright? I'm not gonna pester him with questions just because my date ended badly," she whispered, and her friend reached out to squeeze her hand.

"Oh, Rhoda," she breathed and smiled before going over and sitting down on the couch next to Tom.

The feisty New Yorker took her time getting the sweets and coffee ready so she could watch the couple interact. Tom seemed to be in awe of Mary and never interrupted, only nodded his head or smiled when it seemed appropriate. His smile seemed to reach his eyes, and he never tried to grab Mary's hand or put an arm around her which Rhoda found refreshing.

"Are you about ready, Rho?" Mary asked, and her friend snapped out of it.

"Yeah, yeah of course, this stupid coffee maker is slower than my mother at an antique store," Rhoda offered by way of apology.

"One of these days you'll have to meet Ida," Mary laughed and glanced at Tom as she took her plate and mug from Rhoda.

"Your mother I assume?" He directed his question at Rhoda.

"Yeah, Ma is...Ma is wonderful until you get to know her."

"Oh come on, you love her," Mary insisted.

"That's true, but then she always has loved you after you helped out at my sister's wedding."

Rhoda thought she saw a certain change come over Tom, but then she decided that she must just be seeing things.

The women laughed and regaled for a bit before Thomas thanked Rhoda, but insisted that they had to get going.

Rhoda frowned at this but saw that Mary seemed eager to leave as well so she just wished them well with the rest of their evening and closed the door behind them.

He didn't seem too bad, she thought. Of course Rhoda didn't think he was just perfect for Mary, but then again any guy who was good enough for Mary probably didn't exist.

The next morning before she went in to WJM, Mary called Rhoda up and told her to have breakfast at her place. Rhoda would never turn down a free meal, and she knew that breakfast was just a cover.

"So did you like him?" Mary asked as soon as her friend sat down to her eggs and bacon.

"Yes, kid," Rhoda laughed. "You seem to make a good couple."

"But do you really really like him?"

"Since when has my opinion mattered so much?"

"Since you're the best friend I have, and I love you."

This tugged at Rhoda's heartstrings. She loved Mary too.

"Yes, I like him, but I would have to see more of him before I just fell in love like you," she teased.

"Oh, you will. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

**This was a fairly short chapter just sort of setting the scene. I hope you like it so far. Reviews are my encouragement xx**


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